‘Get Shorty’: Chris O’Dowd & Ray Romano Poised To Star In Epix Series

Chris O’Dowd is finalizing a deal and Ray Romano is in negotiations to topline Get Shorty,Epix’s 10-episode original series from MGM TV. The hourlong dark comedy is a reimagining of Elmore Leonard’s 1990 bestselling thriller comedy novel previously adapted by MGM with Barry Sonnefeld’s 1995 feature starring John Travolta, Danny DeVito, Gene Hackman and Rene Russo.

Written by Davey Holmes, Get Shorty centers on Miles Daly (O’Dowd), who works as muscle for a murderous crime ring in Nevada. For the sake of his daughter, he attempts to change professions and become a movie producer, laundering money through a Hollywood film. But instead of leaving the criminal world behind, he accidentally brings it with him to Los Angeles. Romano would play Rick, a washed up producer of low quality films who becomes Miles’ partner and guide through the maze of Hollywood.

Miles and Rick are versions of the characters played in the 1995 movie by Travolta and Hackman, respectively.

O’Dowd, repped by WME, 3 Arts and Gordon & French in the UK, previously starred on the HBO comedy series Family Tree and recurred on the network’s Girls. He will next be seen in the feature Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children.

The Emmy-winning former Everybody Loves Raymond star Romano, repped by ICM Partners and manager Rory Rosegarten, is coming off a starring role in HBO’s drama Vinyl. Before that, he co-starred on NBC’s Parenthood and toplined TNT dramedy Men of a Certain Age, which he also co-created.

The 1995 Get Shorty movie was received well by critics and did well at the box office. Travolta won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. It spawned a feature sequel, Be Cool, which came out in 2005.

Get Shorty is set to debut in summer 2017, with production slated to begin this fall. It is the third original series for Epix — a joint venture between Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM. Get Shorty joins the upcoming Berlin Station, from Paramount TV, and Graves, from Lionsgate TV. The three series will appear across Epix’s channels, Epix On Demand, Epix.com and TV Everywhere platforms.